a collection of images by Jake Walker
The images used in this book were taken from the following sources: Playful Type 2: Ephemeral Lettering & Illustrative Fonts Robert Klanten, Hendrik Hellige, and Jan Middendorp Tactile Robert Klanten, Sven Ehmann, and Matthias HĂźbner Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far Stefan Sagmeister sagmeister.com behance.net artyulia.com amandinealessandra.com
Jake Walker 1918 Seven Pines Dr. Saint Louis, Missouri 63146 Š2011 by Jake Walker All Rights Reserved Published by Walker Publishing Company Saint Louis, Missouri This book cannot be used or reproduced in any manner without consent from publisher.
This is dedicated to anyone that has ever pushed me to do better than I thought I could.
When I first started the graphic design program at the University of Missouri St. Louis, I was under the impression that all the type I saw was a font, made on the computer by someone. Because of this, the type I used my first two years of school was incredibly boring. Or at least I think so looking back. Then I took a class called Imagemaking, where we focused on handmade images and type. This turned my world upside down. I had never imagined making my own type for my projects. Since I had to do it in that class, I’ve wanted to do it for every project that’s come up. There’s something about handmade type that just ties you closer to your own project. The trick is using it where it’s appropriate. Handmade type also catches the viewer’s eye. It helps direct attention. It can stick out more than your normal serif or sans serif font
on a giant billboard. It can also emphasize an area in a brochure possibly better than a sans serif typed in all caps could. The fact that handmade type is so flexible is one of the things that makes it my obsession. Instead of searching for a typeface for a flyer, I can instead make my own typeface for it and direct that attention how I want to. Having this kind of power over my design fascinates me. I had never realized I was obsessed with handmade type until I was introduced to using it. When I looked back at all the design I had previously used for inspiration, I found that most of it had handmade type in it somewhere. It seems that that is what drew me to it. One designer I had always been extremely with is Stefan Sagmeister, and after I went back and looked through most of his work, I realized a lot of it was handmade type. It just took the
knowledge of the subject to make me realize why I love it. When I talk about handmade type, I’m not just talking about a script done in pen and ink, or someone writing a letter in his or her own handwriting. Sure, those are included, but I also love dimensional handmade type. When someone takes the time to build a word for an advertisement or poster, giving it dimension that isn’t just some drop shadow behind a word, I automatically love that design. For instance if someone actually builds light bulbs in the shape of a word as opposed to just placing yellow dots in Photoshop and placing glows around them, it adds so much more to that design. That extra level of dedication is what calls out to me. Throughout my education, there have been few times where I haven’t tried to push my designs to that extra level. I never would have
guessed that putting hand made type in them would make me feel so much better about them, and make teachers pay more attention to the detail. If it works on a teacher, it will most definitely work on an audience. Handmade type is definitely my obsession, and I hope to continue to use it throughout my career wherever I can.
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01 Collapsed in Love... Craig Ward behance.net 02 Love Spreads Craig Ward Processing Typography behance.net
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01 If I Want To Explore A New Direction Professionally It Is Helpful To Try It Out For Myself First Stefan Sagmeister Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far 02 This Is Made Up Charles Williams behance.net
01 01 5000 Dollars Yulia Brodskaya 2009 Playful Type 2 02 Ran Out of Ideas Yulia Brodskaya artyulia.com
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03 A Tribute to Yulia Brodskaya Adolfo Correa behance.net
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Self-Confidence Produces Fine Results Stefan Sagmeister Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
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01 Dents Peter Pavlov behance.net 02 Trendsetter Paul Hollingworth behance.net 03 Peel Peter Pavlov behance.net
01 01 Public Lettering (model) Kate Lyons 2006 Tactile 02 Flavor Camilo Rojas behance.net
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01 Art and Urban Development Autobahn 2008 Playful Type 2 02 Pencil on Paper Autobahn behance.net
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01 Holy *hit Artist Uknown (HandMade Font) behance.net 02 We Are 4ever Artist Uknown (HandMade Font) behance.net
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02 01 Obsessions Make My Life Worse and My Work Better Stefan Sagmeister Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far 02 Trying To Look Good Limits My Life Stefan Sagmeister Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
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01 EKKO Records Autobahn behance.net 02 Weave Type 2 Zim and Zou behance.net
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Turns of Speech and Figures of Phrase MaricorMaricar behance.net
Having Guts Always Works Out For Me Stefan Sagmeister Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
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01 Hot Artist Uknown (HandMade Font) behance.net 02 I Want to Break Free Artist Uknown (HandMade Font) behance.net 02
Paper & Love Typeface Chris Berthe behance.net
01 Burned Planks Artist Uknown (HandMade Font) behance.net
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01 Tapeography Ersinhan Ersin behance.net 02 Baudelaire Hina Aoyama 2008 Playful Type 2 03 Imagining Mozambique Federico Galvani 2009 Playful Type 2
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Letterform for the Ephemeral Amandine Alessandra amandinealessandra.com
Acknowledgement I would like to acknowledge all of the teachers I’ve had, and all my peers that put up with my silly self. I don’t know what I would do without any of you.
This book was set in Adobe InDesign CS 5, and the handmade type produced with mixed medias. The typeface used is Avenir LT Std, set at 9 point. Book of